How to Unlock your Nokia E63 from Three

It only takes one call to your phone provider and you can have your phone unlocked and ready to be upgraded free to the newest firmware available for the Nokia E63. Today, I called up Three to get this done and they asked why I would like to unlock the phone. I said that I would be going overseas and they asked what country. I started to wonder, just let me unlock my phone.. then I realised he wanted to tell me that we can use three on international roaming. Nice to know... but I still want my phone unlocked. If they continue to ask, tell them that you may want to use a local SIM card and they will let you pass Go and collect your unlock key.

You will know that they are giving you the right code if they

1. Ask for your IMEI number by asking you to type in *#06#

2. They give you a code that looks something like #pw+23489729429834+1#

3. The phone will say "sim card restriction off"

Your phone is now unlocked and you can go to Nokia PC suite to get your firmware updated... but is the firmware worth updating to?

Click here for more discussion on the Nokia E63 new firmware.

EDIT: I've just tried to upgrade my phone firmware and just like Pitz said in the comments, the upgrade didn't work even after unlocking the phone from Three. Oh Three.. what will we do with you...

Also there are plenty of companies around which unlock your phone for a fee.. have a look around.

How to still get $29 12 month contract for Nokia E63 on Three

As many people would have noticed, Three has removed the $29 cap for 12 months and upping the contract back to 24 months. You can still get the $29 cap for 12 months with a Nokia E63 if you go to this page here. If you know an existing 3 customer like me, you can also get a bonus 150 minutes / month added to your 200 min free calls to 3 customers if you are referred before you sign up. Email me if you are not sure how this works.

EDIT: Link Updated here to get the $29 cap for only 12 months.

Pinpoints from Ovi a non event

Maybe I don't know how to use this program but after trawling the Nokia Ovi store for free applications, I came across Pinpoints. When I ran the program on my Nokia E63, it flashed up the fact that it is scanning for pinpoints and then the program closed. The idea of the program is pretty cool. It supposedly finds addresses that are inputted in your phone and then plots them on a google or nokia maps.. but maybe someone who has got it running properly can share how this program works. Remember, we here do not read manuals :)

Would you like to accept connection (again?) bluetooth hack

Do you get annoyed about how every time your phone connects to your computer, you need to say YES I do want to allow my computer to connect to the phone?

There is an easy fix. In three words, it is SET AS AUTHORISED.

On your E65, or other Nokia phone, go to MENU --> CONNECTIVITY --> BLUETOOTH. Then press across -> to access the "PAIRED DEVICES" tab. Scroll down to the connection to your computer/other phone/PDA/bluetooth headset that you want to always allow your phone to connect automatically, and go to OPTIONS. Select "Set as authorised" and from now on, you won't be asked whether you would like to accept the connection from your computer. This is a security pre-caution built in to the phones that makes sure that just because you allowed someone to access your phone ONCE, they cannot continue to do so unless you have authorised an automatic connection.

Now, when your phone comes in range with your computer, they'll say hi to each other, update each other on what's been happening with them (sync your calendar, notes, address book, files, pictures or whatever else you want to sync with PC Suite) and send whatever changes you made to your phone or PC to the other - and this will allo happen without bothering you about it. This is how technology has advanced (actually it advanced 4 years ago to make this possible). PC Suite will even give you a summary of what they "talked" about and what details have been updated. Just one obvious tip, make sure PC suite is always on in order for this automatic connection to happen and make sure that in your syncing settings, you have enabled automatic syncing. Reposted from MyE65 as requested by Rommel Pascual, hope that helps.

Google Maps 3.2 for Mobile - Customised Maps now Possible

Finally, one of the things on my wishlist for Google Maps has been granted. Google Maps 3.2 brings the ability to view your "My Maps" customised maps. This allows you to pre-plan a number of waypoints that you would like to get to and add the "layer" to the map on your mobile so that you can navigate to the destination.

I've tried this new Google Map for Mobile on my Nokia E63 and everything is running sweet. It is very well integrated and with the press of the button 2, you can turn on and off any layers you want.

So what are the possiblities with this?

• Input all your favourite restaurants into a My Map and access it on the go when you are looking for somewhere to eat "nearby".
• Import a list of free wifi locations
• Mark on your map where you are currently onto a map for later reference on your computer.
• List your favourite cafes and have corresponding "icons" to appear on your phone (as below)

Point your phone browser here to get the download. See a user map of free wifi locations in Australia here as an example.

Edit: For those new to the game, Google Maps does require a data connection to run. If you do not have internet access on your phone, you are probably better sticking with Nokia Maps or Ovi Maps (use search bar on right for more details) as it is known now. To download it, you will also need a data connection so connecting your phone to a free wireless connection will suffice. If you don't have free WIFI access, go to your nearest McDonalds if you are in Australia.

Battery saver tip - Is your phone secretly connecting to the internet?

Did you know that some mobile providers automatically maintain a connection from your phone to the internet without you knowing? Three Australia is such a provider. You will notice this when you press and hold the red button, the phone will ask you whether you would like to end packet connection even though you have no web browser connected to the internet. Some regular users on MyE63 would have already noticed Pitz' comment in reply to our battery saving tips.

Here is the way you can double your battery life on your Nokia E63 by disabling the automatic connection to PLanet 3.

1. Put your phone into offline mode.
2. Duplicate your access point(given option) and it will offer to save tit as planet 3(1). DO this.
3. Delete your original planet 3 access point.
4. Rename Planet 3(1) to Planet 3.
5. Go back online.

Just letting you know you're out of range

One interesting thing about the Nokia E63 is that when you have connected to your home WIFI, even after you have closed the web browser, the phone keeps an eye on the connection and when you drive out of your house and it is no longer able to sense your WIFI connection, the warning tone sounds to let you know that you have disconnected from the WIFI. I don't remember the Nokia E65 doing this but maybe because my warning tones were disabled on the E65. Have you noticed this "feature"?

Getting to know Nokia E63 users like you

Each phone has a target audience. The E series has been targetted to the young professionals, the early adopters in the mobile phone market. For example, many people didn't know that you could surf the internet on the phone until iphone came along even though many of us were doing this in 2005. The Nokia E63 came out as a cheaper smartphone, to reach more people, especially girls who like the bright red E63.

Question is, who are the ones currently playing with a Nokia E63? If you have one, please leave a comment here and tell us what your occupation and age is, and maybe even where you are from.

Free WIFI @ McDonalds on your Nokia E63

When McDonalds first came out with their free WIFI, there were some configuration problems with using it. Now, the Nokia E63 has no problems using the WIFI access provided by Australian McDonalds stores. Have a look here for more details about what you need to know about using McDonalds free WIFI access.

With the Nokia E63, all you need to do is go to WLAN scanning and find the McDonalds Hotspot. The internet browser should load up an agreement page. Once you click enter, your 50MB allowance begins. You can now surf to whatever website you want to check.

More Nokia Battery Tips - part 2

Continuing our look at how to maxmise your Nokia battery life, here is a guest post from Matthew, one of your fellow readers, sharing how he saves battery life...

I don't have any complaints about the battery life. I have bluetooth off and wifi scanning off unless I need them. As far as the 'always connected to planet 3' thing, I was quite concerned about this, not because of battery life but because of data costs. My house is a dead spot and I don't get 3 mobile broadband coverage.

I'm sure you know the relevant setting is Tools->Settings->Connection->Packed Data->Packet Data Connection. You only get 2 options 'When Needed' or 'When available'. Neither of these options is particularly useful or descriptive, but we are stuck with them.

I use 'When needed' which is the default. What this does in practice is force most apps to ask you each time they want to connect to the internet and this allows you to have the option of blocking connection if it's going to cost you roaming charges. You need to check each app is setup properly for this to happen (all the installed ones are) but some apps need to be configured so that they ask.

If you use 'When available', you won't get any notification that an app is connecting, and my concern (not proven) is that the danger is roaming charges may apply if you wander out of a coverage area (such as go into a shopping centre) or if you exceed your download limits.

Either way, it seems, the phone will be 'connected' to planet 3, whether any internet apps are open or not. Even if you manually disconnect the planet 3 connection (and it's quite easy to do) the phone will reconnect by itself. But if you have the settings I suggest above, you won't actually have any traffic charges because you won't be using any data. It's just an open connection for reasons that make no sense to me. But as far as I can tell there isn't anything that can be done about it. (MyE63: There is a way to stop planet 3 from automatically maintaining a connection.. see the previous post for now for a brief explanation how).

At first I was quite alarmed, but I've had my first bill now and don't have any surprise usage charges. Whether this is actually using battery power I don't know.

Finally (yeah, long comment, sorry) one general tip for all phones is that the more (reception) bars you have, the longer your battery life. Less bars mean the phone is struggling for a connection and will use more energy searching for a better signal or to boost the signal it's got. If you get more bars by leaving the phone on a window sill rather than in your pocket, you can save battery life that way.

Thanks for your suggestions Matthew!

What Kills Your Battery? Saving power tips

If your Nokia E63 battery life is lasting less than two days, there is a good chance that your Nokia E63 battery is being used up with inefficient programs or settings.

Monitor your phone First of all, if you would like to contribute some thoughts, do your own survey of how much your applications use up your battery. There is a Battery Usage tool released by Nokia but you will need to be a Forum member to get it or leave your email address below to get a copy emailled to you.

Some other things you can try include:

- Turning off your WIFI scanning

- Shorten the time to standby

- Don't leave useless applications running in the background such as Fring if you are just running it because you can

There will also be a tip regarding users on the 3 network later once it is confirmed to work. Basically it involves removing the automatic connection to Planet 3 which seems to be enabled by default by 3. If you know more about this, leave a comment for your chance to win this month's giveaway.

NEW Firmware 200.21.012 for Nokia E63 brings facebook and speed.. apparently

News is spreading around the net that the new Nokia E63 firmware is available at www.nokia-asia.com via the mobile phone software updater.

In order to update your firmware, you will need to buy a cable. You cannot update via bluetooth unfortunately and since Nokia E63 does not come with a cable, you will need to buy one or ask a friend who owns a Nokia E71. Email for details if you would like to get a cable for AU$12+shipping to your country.

Of the mentioned improvements, some have reported that certain alarm glitches are gone, and the phone speed has improved. A shortcut to facebook has also been added. However, one user has reported that their WLAN did not work after upgrading.

For my E63, even after installing the Nokia Software updater from the nokia-asia website, it reported that no firmware update is available for my phone. Perhaps my phone from Three Australia cannot be updated yet. How did you go?

Internet Shortcut You Probably Didn't Know

When using the Nokia mobile phone browser, I stumbled upon a toolbar that I hadn't realised was there all that time. If you hold down the main selection key (the one in the middle of the phone), you are presented with a few quick shortcuts:

• Most frequently visited websites (this will be very handy!)
• Zoom out page overview - for those big websites not made for phones
• Reload (refresh) page - I was wondering why there wasn't a shortcut key for reload!
• Find - search for text on this current webpage

When using FIND, the word is highlighted on the page in every instance it appears in a very clear and distinct red highlight.

Before you leave a message that it doesn't work, make sure that your phone "mouse" cursor is not hovering over a text input field, otherwise these secret menu items will not appear. You can also access the toolbar by going to OPTIONS --> TOOLS --> SHOW TOOLBAR... but why would you do it the long way?

Must have Applications for the Nokia E63 - do you know one?

Since this was posted at a time when the blog just started, I've reposted it today so that you can all contribute your ideas for your favourite apps for Nokia E63. What are the ones you use the most and why is it better than its competitors? Please mention if its free or paid.

I've mentioned in the earlier post that I installed Google Maps, Gmail, Nokia Maps as must-have applications for the Nokia E63. Ovi Maps is also currently under consideration and Nokia Sports Tracker is definitely being considered. Many of you have already looked around at applications for the Nokia E63. What have you found to be must have applications? To help you along the way, what applications do you use for:

• Communicating via SMS or screening calls
• Personal development (Bibles, fitness trackers, online books)
• Word processing (Quick office is hard to beat)
• FTP or mobile transferring of files
• Bluetooth fun and crazy things to do
• Using GPS connectivity (E63 needs an adapter to get GPS)

If you have developed software worthwhile for Nokia users to consider, let me know or send a NFR license to mye63blog@gmail.com and we will review it here. If you know of an app worth installing, leave a comment.